Free confident he can handle right guard

IRVING – A sign in the Dallas Cowboys locker room reminds players they should be “resourceful” and stand ready to “accomplish a task in a challenging situation.”

“Find a way,” is the final line on the sign.

It’s clear that Doug Free took those messages to heart.

After starting at either right or left tackle the last three seasons, Free looks like a safe bet to begin the 2013 campaign at right guard.

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make this team better,” Free
said Monday in making his first public comments about the change. “I think I’ve proved that before and I’ll prove it again.”

The Cowboys entered training camp planning to eventually play Free some at guard, but what began as an experiment transitioned into a necessity after 2012 starting left guard Nate Livings and backup Ronald Leary underwent knee surgery last month.

With Livings and Leary out, right guard Mackenzy Bernadeau slid over to the left side while Free moved from right tackle to right guard. Jermey Parnell is the starter now at right tackle.

Dallas placed Livings on season-ending injured reserve over the weekend. Leary returned to practice Monday but was limited. Add it all up, and it seems all but certain Free will be playing a position he’s never played before when the Cowboys host the New York Giants in the season opener Sept. 8.

“I can do it,” Free said.

His confidence notwithstanding, there is reason to doubt him. After moving from left to right tackle last season, Free committed an NFL-high 13 penalties and yielded seven sacks. He struggled so much that the Cowboys rotated him with Parnell during the last four seasons and then slashed his salary in half in the offseason.

But despite all that, there’s been no grumbling from the seventh-year player from Northern Illinois.

“He’s a pro,” coach Jason Garrett said. “Whatever we’ve asked him to do, he just goes and does – play the left side, play the right side, play inside. And he goes to work and tries to do his best. He’s always done that. And I think he’s made the environment better because he has such a good attitude about anything we ask him to do.”

Free has earned points with his teammates for his willingness to accept the challenge.
“It just shows how much of a versatile player he is,” running back DeMarco Murray said. “He’s been around this team for quite some time. He’s always played tackle, but he knows the offense. Center, guard, whatever it is, he knows. He just wants what is best for this team. Whether it’s defensive end, tackle, he’ll do it if they ask him to do it.”

Said rookie center Travis Frederick, “It just shows how intelligent he is and how focused he is.”